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Marius Axxelson
Marius Axxelson was a major political figure from the mid 24th century. He was the 9th President of the Federated States Early Life Marius Saul Axxelson was born in 2313 in the Raythorn Village on Mars. He was the eldest son of Senator Shenn Axxelson who was a retired marine officer. His father was lawyer and appeals court justice Alareicht Axxelson. Marius was a bright, precocious student and attended an exclusive prep school on Mars. He then studied at Cambridge, graduated with a double first in political science and history. He then attended Yale law school where he emerged with his J.D. Lawyer & Political Operative Marius was recruited out of law school by commercial law firm "Seddon & Knox" on Mars. He spent two years there as a corporate lawyer, earning his first million before taking up a role in his mother's Senate staff, initially as communications director. He was campaign manager for her Presidential campaign in 2340 and the age of 27. He became Chief of Staff to Senator Jon Hubbard, the floor-leader of the TPE who saw him as his protege. Marius ran for and won a Senate seat in 2345 First Senate Run Senator Axxelson joined the small but growing TPE Senate contingent. He was appointed to the Senate judiciary committee and was seen as a bright, ambitious but cocky Senator, he quickly made his name as a strong debater. Senator Axxelson harbored ambitions to seek the highest of offices but the TPE was not seen as a credible contender for the Presidency. In 2350 the Party made a coalition agreement with the AIS which kept President Vessey in power. As part of this deal, Senator Axxelson was appointed Attorney General. At age 37, he was the youngest Attorney General in the history of the Federated States Attorney General Marius Axxelson was appointed Attorney General and oversaw reform to the judicial services including a major cost-cutting exercise in Federal law enforcement. He also prosecuted former union bosses who he was able to prove had colluded with organized crime bosses. As Attorney General he investigated allegations of corruption in procurement but during his term he was unable to prove these charges. A later investigation lead by Senator Marten Brightwell proved that there had been wide-spread corruption. In 2354, Marius resigned as Attorney General to run for his old Senate seat. Second Senate Run Marius Axxelson was elected to the Senate in 2355. He quickly took up a place in the Senate judiciary committee again and was a vocal critic of the Rishi administration and its overreach. He was brutal in his cross examination of Justice Devis Adair but was unable to discredit the highly experienced jurist and even voted to confirm him to the bench. Senator Axxelson remained a vocal critic of the Rishi administration. He was hugely critical of the Voting Reform Act which he said was unfair on the more populous worlds. Senator Axxelson used his post in the judiciary committee to begin investigating campaign finance violations during the 2365 election. He formed a sub-committee alongside AIS Senator Inman Hearst. The Axxelson-Hearst Committee The Axxelson-Hearst committee began taking testimony in 2366 and handed out its first subpeona's at the end of the year. This prompted Attorney General Caylee Stattler to begin her own investigations. Senator Axxelson skillfully tackled the issue and used his post as chairman to hammer the Federalist Party on campaign finance and corruption. He was also able to deftly avoid criticizing the FSI. Senator Axxelson finally scored a big win when Federalist donor Alon Arkesson stated under oath that he had been privy to campaign donations that may have come from the Gannid Commonwealth, contrary to campaign finance laws. In 2367 President Moses Zinn and his legal team met with Senator Axxelson and agreed that the President would resign office to avoid potential impeachment hearings. Senator Axxelson's personal job approval rating surged as he was seen as a crusading politician going after corruption. The 2370 Election Throughout 2368 and 2369 Senator Axxelson refused to state whether he'd seek the Presidency in 2370. However in early 2370 he finally announced that he would seek the Presidency on the TPE ticket. He chose Governor Kayla Attwater, a former fleet officer, as his running mate and picked longtime friend MIles Swofford Jr as his campaign manager. The Axxelson-Attwater ticket got the critical endorsement of the Foundation Party, uniting the right of the political spectrum. However they were totally unable to win over the centrist VANGUARD Party. With surging polls for Secretary Gordwood, the Axxelson campaign got a deluge of money behind it and in the end won the election in a landslide. This coincided with a huge turn-out in the Senate vote, propelling the TPE to become the largest Party in the Senate for the first time in their history. Presidency President Axxelson was inaugurated in June of 2370 on Vanheim, the temporary capital of the Federated States. His cabinet was: * Mads Farrell (TPE) as Secretary of State * Hailee Jander (FOU) as Secretary of Defense * Tilly Valane-Warwick (FOU) as Attorney General * Davis Malone JR (TPE) as Treasury Secretary * Embeth Gorlitz (TPE) as Colonial Secretary * MIles Swofford Jr (TPE) as Chief of Staff The TPE/Foundation coalition elected Senator Gallow Knightley (FOU) as the new Prime Minister. However the administration found many of its top goals blocked by the Federalist / VANGUARD and Progressive Union bloc in the Senate. President Axxelson was able to appoint two new justices to the supreme court: # Justice Nayn Hooper # Justice Teagan Murrow The Axxelson administration passed a major spending program for the Fleet and the Marine Corps, with the largest one off increase in marine spending since the Federated States was formed. The Recession was ended after a series of spending cuts were agreed, along with 60,000 civil service job cuts. The corporations also agreed to suspend all interest payments on their loans for two years. In September of 2369 President Axxelson announced his intention to seek a second term as President. Miles Swofford stepped down as Chief of Staff to become campaign manager and veteran politician Crait Valon was named the new Chief of Staff. The 2375 Election President Axxelson's re-election campaign was boosted by a huge amount of campaign donations, especially those from the Big Five. The Axxelson administration also benefited from the experience and stature gap over the far less experienced Senator Hastings. The strikes in 2375 also formed a wedge issue which the Axxelson campaign used as cover to launch a blistering attack ad against Senator Hastings, attacking her character for previous adultery and a failed marriage. Senator Hastings took the high road, refusing to fire back. Privately this moment lead to an argument between President Axxelson and Vice President Attwater but no hint of it came out during the campaign. The President was not able to win in the first ballot but carried a narrow lead into the second one. This was bolstered first by the surprise endorsement of Governor Cole (NH) and then a major donation from a conservative PAC. In the end, President Axxelson won 49%-45% and was confirmed as President for a second term. The Second Administration President Axxelson was inaugurated for his second term on Mars in August of 2375. He made a speech calling for more unity and cross-party working. His cabinet was: * Inman Hearst (FOU) as Secretary of State * Mads Farrel (TPE) as Secretary of Defense * Alice de Valera (TPE) as Attorney General * Leigh Hooper (TPE) as Treasury Secretary * Hanna Belzen (FOU) as Colonial Secretary * Tilly Valane-Warwick (FOU) as Director of FSI * Deacon Parry (TPE) as Chief of Staff The TPE/Foundation/New Horizon coalition named young Senator Rafe Vaber (FOU) as the new Prime Minister. The New Horizon Party was also granted two committee chairmanships in the Senate. The chairmanship of the Oversight committee was granted to independent Senator Ichan Sleeker. Businessman and key donor Calder Bullen (TPE) was named as "Special Counsel" to the President and was a major influence during the president's second term. Attorney General de Valera sacked special Prosecutor Jesalee Cambridge in 2375 after shuttering her investigation. The President was able to pass a 3% tax cut for the corporations. He also ended the costly Vatu treaty after it expired. The President appointed conservative judge Dace Dolan to the Supreme Court The President passed a flagship plan to introduce national service in the Federated States with broad-ranging bi-partisan support. This caused the New Horizon Party to leave the coalition, though they did not force the Prime Minister from office. With the increase in tensions on the Karkouri/Vatu border, the President stated that the administrations policy was to remain out of the conflict. The President also passed more bills further de-regulating the markets. He also tested the extent to which he could govern by Executive Order, bypassing the Senate. When the Karkour and the Vatu went to war, the President called on the Senate to back his proposed coalition intervention with the aid of the Tranoan Empire and the Gannid Commonwealth. The vote was narrowly passed but over the vocal objections of Senator Ephraim Zavitz who claimed that the President and his administration had not made all the facts available to the Senate. The Withenden Affair President Axxelson and his administration met in closed session with the Senate Executive Commitee which comprised of: * Director of FSI Tilly Valane-Warwick (FOU) * Prime Minister Rafe Vaber (FOU) * Calder Bullen (TPE) * Senator Reid Lozano (TPE) * Senator Marten Brightwell (FED) * Senator Cooper Hawthorne (FED) * Senator Ellis Schottan (FED) * Senator Mya van Zant (PU) * Senator Troy Maquessa (VAN) * Senator Ephraim Zavitz (VAN) * Senator Eve Thorsen (NH) * Legal Counsel Ruyard Moya (IND) * Deputy Director of FSI Peal Nolan (IND) Here the President's administration, largely through Deputy Director Nolan, confirmed the existence of the so-called Witehenden Agreement, so named after Trade Envoy Sula Wittenden. This was a back channel agreement with the Tazzyn Empire whereby it had been agreed that the Tazzyn Empire, who had been sheltering pirate and outlaw Juliette de Bruyne, would stop protecting her, in return for the President not intervening in the Karkouri invasion of Vatu space. The President had planned to agree to this but then to intervene once Juliette de Bruyne had been killed. The Senate exploded into outrage over this with calls for resignation and indictment coming from the opposition parties. President Axxelson claimed that whilst he had agreed to the arrangement, that he had not personally been involved in any part of it. Indictment Hearings In May of 2379, the Senate Oversight Committee began preliminary hearings on whether there was a case to consider indicting the President. Senator Sleeker (IND) the chairman of the committee was initially somewhat reluctant to do so but in the end gave in to pressure from the Senators who made up the committee. Senator's Epping (VAN), Van Zant (PU) and Schottan (FED) formally began to move for indictment hearings. Senator Sleeker (IND), the chairman of the Oversight Committee, agreed to call for a sub-committee to begin investigating the President and to potentially begin impeachment hearings The Senate Judiciary committee also began to set out a possible hearing on the President's administration and what information it had made available to the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted a $A100M budget for the investigations, taken from existing White Collar and Anti-Corruption funding. The President's Counsel Ruyard Moya took daily meetings and prepared a legal defense whilst the Attorney General promised that she would resign if documents were held back. In October of 2379 the Senate voted 172-131 to indict President Axxelson. The entire TPE and Foundation Party, along with some Federalists and the Nordlander Senators voted to acquit. However the entire of the VANGUARD, Progressive Union and New Horizon along with around 2/3rd's of the Federalist Party voted to press charges. Talks then shifted to the charges that would be applied to the President: The Senate has moved to press charges based on Federal Act 202 (E) Clause II: the President and his administration shall not knowingly withhold information from the Senate or Chamber of Deputies that may impede their ability to render a decision or would render that decision ineffective The Senate has also moved to press charges based on National Security Act 2362 (B) Clause IV: the President and his administration whilst having the full authority to make foreign policy decisions must make sure that all pertinent information regarding foreign policy decisions that could result in military action are made available to the full Executive Committee. Several major TPE donors began to privately balk on the idea of a third term for President Axxelson. The 2380 Election President Axxelson announced, against convention, that he would seek a third term in 2380. Miles Swofford Jr had been expected to manage the election campaign but stated that he would be sitting out the campaign, though he was expected to consult for the President. The President's campaign committee named Justus Roth as the campaign manager. The former communications director to the President was seen as somewhat "green" at a national level but had a strong grounding in campaign strategy and was seen as Miles Swofford's protege. With the indictment vote in October of 2379, President Axxelson's polling numbers tanked and he began to receive calls to withdraw his name from consideration in 2380. After two weeks of behind the scenes talks, President Axxelson announced that he was suspending his campaign for the Presidency in 2380. Ruyard Moya and Justus Roth began to take regular meetings with the team in charge of prosecuting the President. On November 1 2379 President Axxelson announced that he would not seek the TPE nomination (nor accept it if drafted) until he had cleared his name. He confirmed that he would complete his second term. He began to put together a top legal team for the Supreme Court trial. Supreme Court Trial -''De Laan v Axxelson'' The Supreme Court case was scheduled to begin in October of 2380. President Axxelson's team of lawyers began the painstaking process of building a case whilst Federal prosecutors began to pour over the literally tens of thousands of documents that were found to be germane to the case. President Axxelson ruled that 1,300 of them were subject to Executive Privilege. The Supreme Court was asked to make a ruling and stated that it couldn't make an "en block" ruling and therefore the documents would be subject to a ruling decided by the Panel. Most legal pundits predicted the trial could last anywhere between 2 and 3 years and would cost hundreds of millions of adjusted dollars. Senators and top politicians bemoaned the damage that would be done to the office of the Presidency. The case was never truly resolved as the Coup of 2380 dissolved the Supreme Court. Post Presidency After avoiding prosecution, President Axxelson retired to his family's estates on Mars in the Pyramid Hills area. He consulted for West-Corp and did some guest lectures as well as after dinner speaking. He was one of the few ex-presidents who did not criticize the junta. President Axxelson was "ennobled" in 2388 when the Imperial Coup took power. His family were named Lord-Governor of Fort Verekker, though "Lord" Axxelson did not travel there, instead sending his son Gnaes Axxelson, to run the colony. In 2398, Marius Axxelson passed away.Category:Politician